December 13, 2022 - Link Island donated to Islands Trust Conservancy - highest valued land donation in Conservancy’s history

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Protecting Islands in the Salish Sea  
 
 
 
           
News Release  
 
December 13, 2022. - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
 
Link Island donated to Islands Trust Conservancy - highest valued land donation in Conservancy’s history 
 
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 ʷəŋən, METULIYE/Victoria, B.C.   Late conservationist Betty Swift has donated Link Island, a 21.45 hectare (52.5 
acre) island between Gabriola Island and Vancouver Island, to Islands Trust Conservancy. The Link Island Nature 
Reserve, valued at $3.73 million by BC Assessment, is Islands Trust Conservancy’s largest-ever land donation and the 
largest complete island managed by Islands Trust Conservancy. The Reserve has the added protection of a new 
conservation covenant held by the Nanaimo & Area Land Trust and the Gabriola Land & Trails Trust. 
 
Located southeast of Nanaimo, Link Island is nestled between Mudge Island and DeCourcy Island and is connected to 
both islands at low tides. It has a wealth of biodiversity, with over three kilometres of undeveloped shoreline, coastal 
cliffs, wetlands, intricate sandstone formations, tidal flats and mixed forest ecosystems such as threatened coastal 
Douglas-fir, arbutus, and prairie oak meadows. The island is home to threatened species that are vulnerable to human 
disturbance, including Western Screech-Owl, Barn Swallow, and Great Blue Heron. The island will continue to remain 
closed to the public so it can provide sanctuary to the rare and threatened ecosystems and species that reside there.  
 
Before Betty Swift passed away in 2021, she left instructions that the island be transferred to Islands Trust 
Conservancy. Her gift reserved the right of use of Link Island for her children and grandchildren for the duration of 
their lives. The Swift family’s dream is that Link Island will become a location for climate-change research in the Salish 
Sea. 
 
“This gift is about the future”, says Barbara Swift, Betty Swift’s daughter. “It is a gift for us all.” 
 
“We feel so honored that Betty and her family have entrusted us with this island,” says Linda Adams, Islands Trust 
Conservancy Chair. “It is our intent to manage Link Island in a way that recognizes and protects both its cultural and 
ecological values.” 
 
Link Island Nature Reserve has the added protection of a conservation covenant held by the Nanaimo & Area Land 
Trust and the Gabriola Land & Trails Trust. “Having an entire island set aside for conservation is an incredibly rare 
thing,” says Paul Chapman, of the Nanaimo & Area Land Trust. “I’m excited to see what we do with this unique 
opportunity, and to work together to find innovative ways to steward the island in the face of climate change.” 
 
Gabriola Land & Trails Trust President, Rob Brockley, had the pleasure of meeting with the Swift family shortly before 
the title to Link Island was transferred to Islands Trust Conservancy. “Many of us aspire to show generosity when 
opportunities arise, but the Swift family has actually done it, and on such a g

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